Long since sold out, highly sought after, and looking back went for what now seems like peanuts. ‘Queen Vic’ and ‘Girl With Balloon’, two of Banksy’s early limited edition prints, have made their way back to Soho and still look absolutely fantastic.
‘Queen Vic’ the painting that proved too rude for the street (they were all very swiftly cleaned off) is one of Banksy’s very first editions and comes up for sale very rarely due to it sheer popularity and age. Released initially as an unsigned screenprint edition of 600 back in 2003, the same year as Banksy’s debut ‘Rude Copper’; it was later revisited when a signed edition of only 50 appeared.
The image of Queen Victoria in a lesbian pose is a reference to the myth that Victoria refused to ban lesbianism because she thought such a thing didn’t exist.
'Girl With Balloon' is widely respected as the most popular artwork Banksy has produced. It successfully combines a very sweet, appealing image, with an underlying notion of lost youth. Seen in various guises, sometimes the girl on the right with the balloon on the left, sometimes separated as two unattached pieces, but the classic image is as we see here.
'Girl With Balloon' is available in a bespoke, museum quality frame. 'Queen Vic' is unframed and both are accompanied with full provenance validating them as genuine Banksy artworks.
For all Banksy works currently available click here.
